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Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a late-night sketch comedy series which premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, and introduced a number of new comics and distinctive, recurring characters -- much like Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In years earlier, but with an edgier, late-night sensibility. The Muppets were regular performers in the first season of Saturday Night Live (1975-76). The Land of Gorch :For more information see The Land of Gorch Jim Henson's Muppets were regular performers in the first season of Saturday Night Live (1975-76). The characters, which were specifically created for the show, appeared in The Land of Gorch segments. Fifteen sketches were produced, featuring performances by Muppeteers Jim Henson, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, Alice Tweedie, Fran Brill, and Richard Hunt. The series of sketches lasted from SNL's first episode to April of 1976 (and became a recurring joke in the show's second season). The book Live From New York by TV critic Tom Shales details the backstage conflict between the writers of the show, who resisted integrating the Muppets into the show during the first year, and the Muppet performers. Guest Appearances Visual Mentions & Spoofs Verbal Mentions * In a 1976 episode, Gilda Radner reads a postcard from the Muppets who are vacationing in England (and do not appear in the episode). The postcard says that they were tracing their roots and found the felt factory where their ancestors were built, and that they discovered that they are related to the Loch Ness Monster. * The opening sketch in a 1976 episode featured Chevy Chase (calling from the hospital) instructing Gilda Radner to "walk like a Muppet * In a Bees sketch that spoofed Peter Pan (November 27, 1976), one of the Bees (Laraine Newman) says that they are "like Muppets with longer contrac * In a 1977 episode, Baba Wawa (Gilda Radner) interviews Godzilla and asks him if he's Japanese. Godzilla responds, "Uh, no. You know, a lot of people think I'm from Japan, or a Muppet, you know? Actually, I'm neither. Actually, I'm Hawaiian." * In the February 6, 1982 edition of SNL Newsbreak (the name of Weekend Update at the time), Brian Doyle-Murray tells a joke about Bert and Ernie coming out. * In the February 9, 1991 episode, Nat X (Chris Rock) interviews Vanilla Ice (Kevin Bacon). When Vanilla Ice says that he is from the streets, Nat X responds, "What street? Sesame Street? * In the "America's Most Wanted: Former Child Stars" sketch from the March 16, 1991 episode, grown-up child star Rodney Allen Rippy (Tim Meadows) says "I'm in an audition tomorrow - I'll be the voice of a Muppet Baby!" * In a 1997 Celebrity Jeopardy parody sketch, Phil Donahue (Darrell Hammond) responded to the question "This December 25th holiday involves decorating a tree and opening presents" with a monologue on Christmas commercialism (in 14 sketches this was by far the closest any contestant ever came to giving a correct answer), stating, "Little Bobby and little Susie have hung their stockings with care. Mom and Dad are out looking for Tickle-Me-Elmo 'til five a.m., and all of a sudden, Bobby looks up and he says, 'Hey! Who is this Jesus?' (At this point, an exasperated Alex Trebek (Will Ferrell) breaks in with "You know the answer, just say it!") Meanwhile, Kris Kringle is drinking Coke! The reindeer are playing Nintendo! The elves are wearing Nike..." * In a 1998 Celebrity Jeopardy parody sketch, contestant Adam Sandler (played by Jimmy Fallon) sings a version of Sandler's Hanukkah Song, listing Jewish celebrities, singing "Robert DeNiro, Bela Lugosi, Snuffleupagus, and Parker Posey" * In a 2000 sketch, the Bloder Brothers, Wayne and Kip (Chris Parnell and Jimmy Fallon), hit on Cindy (Julianna Margulies) while the bartender, Clair (Ana Gasteyer), helps fight the creeps off. Cindy: Oh, don’t worry, Clair. I don’t think these Muppets here could hurt me. Kip: Well, I, for one, just changed my name to Elmo. Tickle me... laughs Wayne: Uh, can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street? * In a 2000 "Weekend Update" sketch, Joacob Silj (Will Ferrell) explains to anchor Tina Fey how his life is affected by his voice immodulation disorder (the inability to control the pitch or volume of one's voice). Jacob Silj: Imagine being at a high school dance, singing along with everyone else "and a little bit softer now, and a little bit softer now, and a little bit softer now." Or how about sitting in the privacy of your church confessional and whispering to your priest, "I've had impure thoughts about that hippie puppet in the Muppet Show Band." Tina Fey: Janice?Jacob Silj: Janice, yes. * In a 2001 "Hardball" parody, Chris Matthews (Darrell Hammond) tells Paul Begala (Chris Kattan), "Zip it, Kermit! Go back to Fraggle Rock! Let the grown-ups talk about politics!" * In a 2002 sketch, A.J (Dean Edwards), Free (Maya Rudolph), Baby K (Jeff Richards), and Lady Three (Queen Latifah) reference Chicken Dance Elmo.::AJ: Yo Baby K, you mackin', you must have all the chicken heads comin' after you.::Free: Yehh, yehhh!::Baby K: What do you mean? Chicken Elmo?::Lady Three: Ooh yeh yeh! He likes that Chicken Dance Elmo. That's a nature rider, I mean he got his pick of the Chicken Dance Elmos in any town. * In a 2002 Christmas sketch, a young boy asks a department store Santa (Robert De Niro) for a Chicken Dance Elmo, to which the snide Santa replied "Chicken Dance Elmo - that's great. You know what's even better? What's a better gift? An environment of emotional maturity." * In a 2004 sketch, Night Terrors (Snoop Dogg) says to Abe Scheinwald (Rachel Dratch), "I like you, weird old dude. You´re like that old Muppet that be hanging in the balcony criticizing people." * In a 2004 sketch parodying "Hardball with Chris Matthews," Matthews (Darrell Hammond) commented on Mary Beth Cahill's (Amy Poehler) wide-eyed appearance, stating "I haven't seen eyes like that since Jim Henson glued 'em to a sock." * The February 4, 2006 episode, three Hamas leaders (played by Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Seth Meyers) tell Steve Martin that they are fans of "all three" of Martin's movies: The Jerk, The Man with Two Brains, and ''The Muppet Movie''. * The opening of the March 1, 2008 episode featured a satire of the motion picture Juno and its rather hip dialogue such as "honest to blog." Screenwriter Diablo Cody (played by Andy Samberg) asks Ellen Page (playing herself), "What is your dental damage, Kermit the Blog?" * The March 8, 2008 episode featured a skit with cast member Kristen Wiig's character Penelope, who has a habit of one-upping the people around her. Amy Adams' character is a traffic school teacher who finally gets fed up with student Penelope and says, "You know what Penelope, Penelope I have had enough . . . I guess now's a good time to tell everyone I'm friends with Kermit the Frog. What do you think of that? . . . " Penelope responds that "Um, guess I'll say that, um, I'm best friends with all Muppets. Including Scooter, so, I was invited to all of their weddings, so . . . " * The January 10, 2009 episode featured a skit with Kristen Wiig's recurring character Penelope, a habitual braggart with a compulsive need to one-up everyone around her. Amid her outlandish claims, Penelope states that she used to be a puppet and was on Fraggle Rock. * In the Weekend Update for February 14, 2009, Angie Tempura (Kristen Wiig) appears to give her insight on who should or who should not win the Oscars. When she gets to who should not win, she refers to the Oscars as the Oscar the Grouch awards. * In the Weekend Update for March 6, 2010, Will Forte sings a song about women in the workplace for Women's History Month, which included the lyric, "Miss Piggy, talking pig." * In the Weekend Update for December 11, 2010, Stefon (Bill Hader) shares some of the hottest spots in New York for Christmas, which included "An entire room of Puppets doing karate (...) because its that thing that when someone calls Miss Piggy fat and she goes "HAYA!!!!!!". Later, reciting a version of The Twelve Days of Christmas, he includes the line "Five Homeless Elmos". * In the January 9, 2011 episode, an impressionist-turned-psychic played by Jim Carrey channeled Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, despite the fact that they are neither dead nor human. * During the opening monologue by host Alec Baldwin in the September 24, 2011 episode, Baldwin mentions that he has beaten Steve Martin in the number of hostings for SNL. He comments on Steve's talent by saying "What's that thing he plays, that round guitar thing that Kermit the Frog plays?...the banjo, yeah." * At the end of a segment featuring Jimmy Fallon in the December 17, 2011 episode, Fallon and his reflection (Andy Samberg) sings a verse of "The Rainbow Connection". * During Seth MacFarlane's opening monologue in the September 15, 2012 episode, he sang a song about hosting the show and his voices and impressions, and at one point, broke into a Kermit the Frog impression. * During a sketch in the February 1, 2014 episode, a repair woman (host Melissa McCarthy) gets into a fight with a Frida Kahlo model (Nasim Pedrad), whom she refers as "Latino Bert from Sesame Street." * During a Family Feud sketch in the December 21, 2013 episode, Steve Harvey (Kenan Thompson) calls Ashton Kutcher (Taran Killam) a Muppet because of how he talks. * During an appearance from recurring Weekend Update guest Drunk Uncle (Bobby Moynihan) on October 25, 2014, he puts a trash can on his head and asks co-anchor Colin Jost what his Halloween costume is. Jost responds with Oscar the Grouch, but Drunk Uncle says he's America. * During the cold open on the February 11, 2017 episode, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (played by guest star Melissa McCarthy) reads from a list of fictitious incidents he claims haven't been covered by the press, including "the slaughter at Fraggle Rock." * During the cold open of the May 18, 2019 episode, which features Donald Trump (portrayed by Alec Baldwin) and his associates singing a parody of Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now," Trump's sons Donald Jr. (Mikey Day) and Eric (Alex Moffat) enter inquiring why they weren't invited to sing. Once their father lets them, Eric begins singing "The Muppet Show Theme." References * In the Muppet Babies episode "Muppets Not Included", Baby Gonzo takes orders in a diner and yells out "Cheeseburger! cheeseburger! cheeseburger!" referencing the "Olympia Cafe" sketch that recurred from 1978 to 1979. * Episode 3368 of Sesame Street featured a spoof of the recurring Saturday Night Live sketch (and films) "Wayne's World", entitled "Telly's Town". In the episode, Telly and Big Bird put on a show similar to "Wayne's World" - and acting similar to Wayne and Garth. Mike Myers (as Wayne) appeared as a tuba deliveryman in the episode, as well. A monster resembling Garth appears at the end of the episode, playing in the band. * In Miss Piggy's Rules, Miss Piggy gives a breakdown of shorthand used in personal ads, among which are the initials SNL (used for Saturday Night Live). * Ernie's final song in the video, 123 Count With Me features a lyric where he asks the viewer to count a trio of "wild and crazy guys". * A sketch from season 30 of Sesame Street features Telly as "King Telly-Tut," singing about his triangle-loving Egyptian ancestor in a musical number which parodies Steve Martin's famous "King Tut" routine from the SNL episode he hosted on April 22, 1978. * The 1999 Sesame Street CD-ROM game Music Maker features a section called "Ernie's World," where a cap-wearing, guitar-holding Ernie hosts a music show from inside a basement (ala "Wayne's World"). * In the 2005 pilot for The Muppet Spotlight, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker invent celebrity, custom iPods. Their Ashlee Simpson model is designed with a built-in lip-sync feature, referencing Simpson's infamous appearance on the show on October 24, 2004, where it was revealed she was lip-syncing her musical performances. * The Sesame Street resource video The Get Healthy Now Show features a group of healthy foods, who call themselves "The Not Yet Ripe Fruit and Vegetable Players," referencing The Not Ready For Prime Time Players. * In early Sesame Street appearances, Hansel and Gretel spoof Saturday Night Live’s "Hans and Franz" by saying "We just want to drop *clap* bread crumbs" with thick Austrian accents. * A 2008 t-shirt by Coastal Concepts depicts Ernie and Bert as Georg Festrunk and Yortuk Festrunk, Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin's "Two Wild and Crazy Guys" characters from SNL's third season. * On November 23, 2010, Sesame Workshop launched a viral marketing campaign on Facebook and YouTube called Cookie Monster should host Saturday Night Live! Connections advertisement for the October 11, 1975 premiere of Saturday Night Live featuring Jim Henson and the Muppets.]] "Motherlover", a song by Justin Timberlake performed on SNL, was nominated at the 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, versus "I Wish I Could Be Santa Claus", from A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa. Both lost to Hugh Jackman's opening number at the 81st Annual Academy Awards. Cast & Crew *Don Pardo, announcer (1975–1981, 1982–2014) *Dan Aykroyd, cast member (1975–1979) *John Belushi, cast member (1975–1979) *Chevy Chase, cast member (1975–1976) *Jane Curtin, cast member (1975–1980) *Laraine Newman, cast member (1975–1980) *Gilda Radner, cast member (1975–1980) *Albert Brooks, filmmaker (1975) *Richard Belzer, extra and guest performer (1975–1980) *Cheryl Hardwick, band member and composer (1975–2000) *Paul Shaffer, band member (1975–1980), special musical material (1976–1980), cast member (1979–1980) *Brian Doyle-Murray, cast member and writer (1978–1982) *Mitchell Kriegman, writer (1980) *Gilbert Gottfried, cast member (1980–1981) *Eddie Murphy, cast member (1980–1984) *Julia Louis-Dreyfus, cast member (1982–1985) *Michael McCarthy, writer (1983–1984) *Billy Crystal, cast member (1984–1985) *Martin Short, cast member (1984–1985) *Joan Cusack, cast member (1985–1986) *Robert Downey, Jr., cast member (1985–1986) *Robert Smigel, writer and featured performer (1985–2008) *Phil Hartman, cast member (1986-1994) *Victoria Jackson, cast member (1986–1992) *Conan O'Brien, writer (1987–1991) *Ben Stiller, featured performer (1989) *Mike Myers, cast member (1989–1995) *Chris Rock, cast member (1990–1993) *Rob Schneider, cast member (1990–1994) *Adam Sandler, cast member (1991–1995) *Sarah Silverman, featured performer and writer (1993–1994) *Jay Mohr, featured performer (1993–1995) *Michael McKean, cast member (1994–1995) *Molly Shannon, cast member (1995–2001) *Hugh Fink, writer (1995–2002) *Stephen Colbert, voice of Ace in "The Ambiguously Gay Duo" (1996–2007, 2011) and guest writer (1996) *Tina Fey, writer and cast member (1997–2006) *Jimmy Fallon, cast member (1998–2004) *Horatio Sanz, cast member (1998–2006) *Rachel Dratch, cast member (1999–2006) *Maya Rudolph, cast member (2000–2007) *Amy Poehler, cast member (2001–2008) *Ken Scarborough, writer (2001–2004) *Seth Meyers, writer and cast member (2001–2014) *Fred Armisen, cast member (2002–2013) *Bill Hader, cast member (2005–2013) *Colin Jost, writer and "Weekend Update" anchor (2005–present) *Andy Samberg, cast member (2005–2012) *Fátima Ptacek, extra, two episodes (2009) *Bobby Moynihan, cast member (2008–2017) *Nasim Pedrad, cast member (2009–2014) *Jenny Slate, cast member (2009–2010) *Vanessa Bayer, cast member (2010–2017) *Jay Pharoah, cast member (2010–2016) *Taran Killam, cast member (2010–2016) *Kate McKinnon, cast member (2012–present) *Michael Che, writer and cast member (2013–present) Hosts and Musical Guests See also * The Land of Gorch * Saturday Night Live DVDs External Links *Jim's Red Book -4/24/1976 Sat Night Live - I write Sources __NOWYSIWYG__ Category:Non-Henson TV Shows Category:TV Appearances Category:TV Mentions Category:Christmas Appearances Category:TV References